The Xinhua China Iron Ore Price Index shows that iron ore inventories from 33 major Chinese seaports declined 96.6Mt as of 5 January 2014, down 0.81% or 790kt.
The Xinhua-China IOP Index was developed by the Xinhua News Agency and is released every Tuesday on the Xinhua08 platform. The Index tracks changes on China’s iron ore market through in-depth surveys of major seaports, iron ore traders and
steelmakers, as well as analysis of customs statistics.
The latest figures, which are compiled from data collected from 33 selected major seaports, showed that the price index for imported 62% purity-grade iron ores rose three points to 71 by Jan. 5. The price index for imported 58% purity-grade iron ores also
went up three points to 63.
Reduced iron ore inventories at seaports are a result of raw material replenishments at Chinese steel mills.
On Boxing Day 2014 the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) began night trading iron ore contracts and this partly contributed to a recent rebound on the spot market.
By December 30, the benchmark iron ore contract on the DCE soared to a daily high, providing a powerful lift to both spot and forward iron ore prices.
The iron ore market is still oversupplied and analysts expect prices to experience narrower gains later and believe the rebound will not last for long.
Source: China Metals
